Cricket 1892

APRIL 21, 1892 CRICKET: A WEEKLY EECORD OP THE GAME. 89 will result iu a loss of between four and five thousand pounds. The President ol the Sussex County Club does everything in connection with cricket in a muni­ ficent way, and it will not surprise any one who knows how unsparing he is to learn that such an estimate is very near the mark. The Victorian match, as far as one can learn, does not seem to have brought much to the treasury, and though the last fixture at Adelaide gave rise to abnormal interest it was hardly of sufficient duration, I should fancy, to reduce the deficit to any very considerable extent. The “ Valetta," with the members of Lord Sheffield’s team on board, by the way, is reported as all right at Port Said on Tuesday last. In reproducing without reservation the remarks which appeared in the Melbourne Argus on the visit of a few well-known Australian cricketers to England this summer, tho sporting dailies would seem to be quite innocently helping to convey an entirely erroneous impression, or, at least, to lead to a belief which must, I should think, be altogether misleading. As far as I can learn, J. W. Trumble, who is already on his way to England, will shortly be followed by another and even older acquaintance of English cricketers, my old friend T. W . Garrett to wit. B. Allen is also “ coming home ” shortly, and as Mailer, a junior, who showed good form recently against Lord Sheffield’s team at Melbourne, and Angus Mackay, of Sandhurst, are bound as well for the Old Country, there should be the nucleus of a team which would have a good and enjoyable time of it on the lines of some of our English wandering clubs. At the same time I should fancy that there can be no idea of a more ambitious programme than one o f a mere touring party on pleasure bent. I f the statement I have seen is correct, the elder Trumble (J. W .) should be in England in a very short time. M r . C. T. G rabu rn , who has been selected out of a large number of candi­ dates for the office of Cricket Instructor lately instituted by the Committee of the Surrey County Club, will be well known to C ric k e t readers in the North, as well as in the South. He was some years ago prominently associated with Yorkshire cricket, and at Scarborough and other grounds had a good reputation as a batsman. Eor some time, though, his lines have been cast in Surrey. As Captain of the Thames Ditton Club, he has done good service, not only by his personal scores but by his management o f the eleven in the field. An excellent score of his, for the Hurst Park Club against the last Australian team, will be in the recollection o f many. He is, I may add, an old Beptonian. F rom what on e hears o f Tasmania and its surroundings it is fortunate, perhaps, that none of Lord Sheffield’s Team have been lost to English cricket. As I m en­ tioned last week, the noble Lord himself is so pleased with his own experiences that he proposes to spend next winter or a great part of it there. According to the Australasian newspaper Maurice Bead has also been completely overcome by the many advantages Tasmania appears to offer. J.M .B., who had never before been to Tasmania, appears to have been at a loss for adjectives sufficiently com ­ plimentary of the island scenery and climate, adding that at last he had found a place “ better than England to live in .” The days he spent inHobart“ would live long in his memory,” [Read informed the critic of the Australasian ] and yet he did not climb to the top of Mount Wellington. I asked him why, and he answered—“ You know I am no climber. I am like Mark Twain, and will say I have been there.” T h e follow in g a n n ou n cem en t fro m the Daily News o f T u esd a y w ill co n v e y in form a tion o f in terest to a large n u m b er o f C r ic k e t readers. I n g l is — P ig o u . — 21st inst., at St. Peter's, Eaton-square, by the Ven. the Arch­ deacon of Chichester, assisted by the Rev. Ernest Ricketts, M.A., Domestic Chaplain to the Earl of Zetland, cousin of the bride, Alfred Markham, son of the Hon. Lady Inglis and the late Sir John Inglis, K.C.B., to Ernestine, second daughter of the Very Rev. Francis Pigou, D.D., Dean of Bristol. The bridegroom will be easily recog­ nised as a personality of some influence in metropolitan cricket for several years past. As Hon. Sec. of the Beckenham Club he conduced greatly to its prosperity during his term of office, which extended for five years, from 1883 to 1888. In active cricket, too, he has done good service for Beckenham, the Incogniti, and other Clubs. A w e e k or so ago, I went to the extent of predicting that the visit of an Austra­ lian team in 1893, instead of in 1894, as decided at the December meeting of County Secretaries at Lord’s, was likely to be received with general favour. There was a reservation, and everyone will recognise its propriety, that there should be a reasonable certainty of the combination being thoroughly re­ presentative of Australian cricket. With such a saving clause as this, I have reason to believe that much o f the friction which arose over the proposal for an Australian trip to England this summer would be removed. Public opinion, it may fairly be said this time, is certainly for rather than against the appearance of an Australian Combination in England in 1893. T he Daily Graphic is my authority for the announcement that the marriage of Viscount Chelsea and the Hon. Mildred Sturt is to take place at Holy Trinity Church, Sloane Street, on Satur­ day next. Lord Chelsea, who is eldest son of the Earl of Cadogan, was the principal scorer for Eton against Harrow in 1887. He subsequently went to Cambridge, but without fulfilling the promise of his performance at L ord’s. He is one of the assistant private secre­ taries of the First Lord of the Treasury. I ncogs will be concerned to know that the annual dinner of the club will take place on Thursday the 12th o f May. Lord Truro will act as skipper of the team, or, to be more precise, take the chair. That most trusty of gossips, Bobert Thoms, has called my attention to the dimensions of the Incog card this summer. Fifty matches are down for decision, including tours which extend over five weeks. B ich ard D aft , in his reminiscences now appearing in the Athletic News, tells a story o f the late Julius Caesar, which those who had any acquaintance with that famous cricketer will admit to be thoroughly characteristic of the man. During the tour of George Parr’s team through the States in 1859 Ciesar, getting into a heated discussion with a Yankee at a liquor bar, threatened to punch his opponent’s head if he would only step outside. The sequel had better be told in Daft’s own words. The American told him that sort of thing was not in his line, bat said, “ Here is my card,” and at once held the muzzle of a revolver close to Julie’s nose. Julius was terribly alarmed and immediately began to make friendly overtures to the American, pretending to treat the whole affair as a joke, and presently succeeded in smoothing matters over. He, however, took the earliest opportunity of getting out of the place, when he fled like the wind to his hotel, fancying that he could feel at every corner he turned a bullet in some part of his body, so he said afterwards. “ The first Yankee I meet on British ground,” said Julie the next day, “ I will give a hiding to, if I get three months for it.” Caesar, who was a good all-round man in the full sense o f the phrase, would have been quite equal to the fulfilment of the threat. M r . W . W. B e a d and the members of his team whom I have seen all speak in very appreciative terms of the hospitality they met with everywhere during the tour in South Africa. The captain, too, expresses himself very favourably of the quality of some o f the cricket they had an opportunity o f testing over there. In his judgment there are several cricketers who would be thoroughly worthy of places in some of the best of our County elevens. More than one ot them, too, would not be unfit for a position in the best side we could turn out. But of this more anon. No doubt an opportunity will be offered very shortly for an analysis, which will give a comprehensive glance at South African cricket. As is generally the case, cricket was thoroughly represented in the competition for the Public Schools Challenge Cup recently decided at the Queen’s Club, Kensington. The Malvern pair who